It’s Only Sunnah Bro!!!

May 2, 2011

By Saiful Islam

“It’s only Sunnah bro…!”

That is the statement often made by those who when encouraged towards a Sunnah, pull out as an excuse to justify the non-adoption of a particular act, dress code or method which was conducted by the beloved Messenger of Allah, Muhammad.

Here is a tangible example. Coming out of a shop, a brother wearing jeans half hanging down and a D&G t-shirt came out “bopsing” awkwardly and poorly imitating the 50 Cent et al. It just so happened that I knew him from our younger days at school.

“SALAAAAAAAMALAIKUM CUZZZIEEEEEE, WA GOWAN!!!”

Standing there, I looked at his state, and thought, MashaAllah, the salam (greeting) is still there! “Walaykum salam bro”, I said. After the usual catching up phase of our discussion where the obligatory “hows it goin”, “you married yet” questions are asked, I shifted the conversation to his state.

“Bro your trousers are falling down”, I said laughingly. With a smirk on his face he replied, “bro its style man, I can’t be seen with my trousers up, it’s just weird.” Excuse me?! Was I hearing right? I knew he was into his rap music, so I deliberately asked, “is that some rap culture style?”, to which he responded, “yeah man”. The following conversation then ensued:

Me: “So why are you copying them, you know like with your trousers half down possibly exposing things no one wants to see.”

Trousers-down brother: “Coz you know, its the style.”

M: “You’re copying them because you think the rappers are stylish and therefore should be followed?”

TDB: “Well… Yeah, i suppose so, if you put it bluntly.”

M: “So you think its ok to show your backside in the name of style?”

TDB: “Urm, well I’m not, I’m not really am I because I can’t see anything”

M: “Dont be silly bro, you can’t probably see anything but others can view the dark abyss! You’re following an act of the black people which is of historical significance. I bet even these people don’t know why they do it. Do you know why the black community do that?”

TDB: “Na bro”

M: “It’s to replicate their conditions during slavery, when their belts were taken off them by the white supremacist masters. So tell me, why do you want to copy the style of the something which is a dark part of history?”

TDB: “I didn’t know that, but you know it’s the style…”

M: “Okay, so you copy them because you think its cool right. Answer me this, are these rappers better then the Prophet Muhammad ?”

TDM: “Of course not bro, he is the best of creation!!!”

Al-Hamdulillah, at least he had some recognition of the status of the Prophet.

M: “So don’t you think it would be logical to follow the ‘style’ of the best of creation?”

TDM: “…”

M: “You see us guys have entered a delusion and warped sense of what is worthy of being followed. This is equally applicable to sisters, who copy western women in wearing tight trousers and tops to “fit in” or the bollywood garb to please some Salman Khan at college and therefore violate the Quranic teachings and earn the wrath of Allah .”

“True..”

“So tell me is what you’re wearing, which historically is sign of the evil of the white supremacist, and in the present day context represents a diseased culture where sex, music and debauchery are celebrated better, or is the Sunnah clothes of the Prophetbetter, which has simple elegance and modesty attached to it?”

“I see what you’re saying, but its only a Sunnah bro…”

“So you would rather please the people who have no sense of morality rather than please Allah and His Messenger? Really, consider this Hadith. Once a Companion of the Prophetwas wearing clothes which were dissimilar to the clothes of the Prophet, and do you know what he said to him? “am I not a sufficient enough example for you?’ (Tirmidhi)”. Tell me, if this was such a trivial issue, if this was ‘only a Sunnah”, would the Prophethave pulled over a Companion to specifically highlight this fact? Furthermore, in the Qur’an Allah states:

“There is surely a good example for you in the Messenger of Allah, for the one who hopes (to meet) Allah and the Hereafter, and remembers Allah abundantly.” (33:21 al-Ahzaab)

So tell me bro, if the Quran is telling us that the best example is that of the Prophetthen, don’t you think we should follow it? Do we hope to meet Allah ?”

The brother had no other option but to accept to the reality of the matter, and promised to mend his way by not listening to music, and not imitating the ways of the ignorant. The conversation ended prematurely, as I had a few more things to add.

You see, we claim to love the Prophet, yet we never act upon what hehad to say or imitate his method of doing things. And then we complain that Muslims are being oppressed around the world. The truth lies in the fact that we have lost our identity, the Sunnah of Islam. The Sunnah is like the flowers which adorn the pot full of soil, which in this case would be the core obligations of Islam. If the flowers are discarded, then pot will begin to look derelict, dead and it will eventually become neglected. The Sunnah is a defence against laxity in our obligations. Similarly, things which are superogatory (nafl) are protection against procrastination in our Sunnah acts. Hence we should resort to holding firm to the Fardh-adorning Sunnah and water it with our nawafil acts (like extra Salahs, tasbih, remembrance of Allah etc.).

May Allah give us the ability to hold firm to the Sunnah and imitate the best of creation, Muhammad, Rasool of Allah , may be peace and blessings be upon him.